Cats and Sleep: Are Both Eyes Really Closed?

by Marjorie Dorfman | More from this Blogger

12 Apr 2006 02:50 AM

Did you know that the average cat sleeps from 16 to 18 hours per day and that even while asleep, remains alert to even the slightest stimuli? Only two animals in nature's diverse kingdom sleep longer; the bat and the opossum, napping away almost twenty hours of every day. It is perhaps the vestige of the predator in their souls that make cats endless viewers of all they survey and vice verse. Nobody really knows why they sleep as much as they do, but it is known that their sleep patterns are crepuscular, meaning most active at dawn and dusk. A cats' diet may also be a factor in its sleep patterns as cats are carnivores and eating meat can and often does induce drowsiness.

The expression "cat nap" refers to the light sleeping pattern of most domestic cats. Light sleep predominates most of a cat's sleeping time, totally about 3/4 of any given day. Cats can awaken very quickly, and it might appear to a "non cat" that they are not fully asleep. Sometimes their eyelids may even be open, but all of this reverts back to evolution and the predator instinct, which demands alertness at all times. No amount of domestication can "breed" this instinct out of a cat. The remaining 1/4 of the feline sleeping pattern is deep sleep. They dream when this occurs, and you can tell by the twitching of the face and paws. They even have nightmares like their owners, however one can only speculate about what could frighten a cat!

Most wild cats utilize huge amounts of energy as predators, and sleep helps to conserve energy in between hunting activity. For the house cat, hunting is reduced to string, yarn, other cats and exhausted owners to play with, but the rule of sleep as a conserver of energy still applies. The domestic cat, even though it doesn't need to hunt, still has the same genetic makeup as it did when it was in a feral state. Kittens tend to sleep more, but that is because the growth hormone is released primarily in the sleeping state.

So if you didn't know that your favorite tabby was the distant cousin of the tiger and lion, it's probably time that you did. You will never end up as brunch or dinner, but you should be aware that you will probably never be as bored with your cat as it may occasionally be with you!

If you can't deal with this reality check, go take a nap!

Learn more about Marjorie Dorfman

Marjorie Dorfman is a freelance writer and former teacher originally from Brooklyn, New York.

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